Suicide bids by young females up

ROUGHLY one in three people who tried to commit suicide here last year was either a woman or a young girl between the ages of 15 and 24, a study by the National University Hospital has found.

Females made up 118 of the 316 would-be suicide cases seen last year by doctors at NUH, to which most such cases are referred.

Suicide attempts rose steadily over the preceding three years for this group.

Last year, suicide bids hit an eight-year high, according to a study by Professor Kua Ee Heok, head of psychological medicine at the National University of Singapore, NUS research fellow Clarice Hong and former NUH consultant psychiatrist Brian Ho.

Although the population has also grown during the same period, the trend among girls and young women is worrying.

The study found that among girls under 19 who had tried to kill themselves, they were most likely to blame relationship problems, boy-girl problems and school stress.

Prof Kua said troubled relationships referred mostly to "quarrels in the family, especially bad parent-child relationships, where there are a lot of quarrels". Boy-girl problems could also result from family problems.

Dr Clarice Hong said that in the Indian community, for example, parental objections to a relationship might provoke a suicide attempt.

This was a factor in the Malay and Chinese communities too.

Poor emotional resilience could also explain the rising numbers. She said: "The threshold of tolerance for suffering is not as high as before. I was wondering if it could be because of the weaker resilience of younger Singaporeans."

Young people had relationship problems in the past too, she said. "But why did they not take it so badly?"

Impulse could be another factor, especially among adolescents. Another explanation could be that the extended family was dying out.

Said Prof Kua: "Before, there was always someone around to talk to in a big family -- an aunt, for example. Now, more families live on their own, and a lot of the youngsters are latchkey kids.

"They don't even talk to neighbours like before."

Due to this lack of communication at home, communication at school became all the more important.

There should be someone that students could talk to, because a suicide attempt was a cry for help.

Said Dr Hong: "In self-help groups in schools, they can learn from each other, or there could be a trained counsellor in school to go to."

That is why the NUS department of psychological medicine hopes to set up a webpage within the next six months, and make it accessible to students. It will offer tips on dealing with stress, where to turn to for help, relaxation techniques and other information.

Prof Kua said family, teachers and friends were the best people to advise youngsters under stress. "When stress levels are high, teach them what they can do. More serious cases may need medical attention. They should see their general practitioner."

371 committed suicide last year

THE number of people who succeeded in killing themselves last year came to 371 -- the third highest figure in a 20-year period.

According to the Singapore Immigration and Registration, 1995 was the year with the highest number taking their own lives -- resulting in 401 suicides.

The second highest peak from 1979 to 1998 came in 1989, when 395 killed themselves. The lowest was in 1981, with 191 self-inflicted deaths. Last year, there were:

• 50 suicides in the 50 to 59 age group, the highest in 10 years.
• 22 suicides in the 10 to 19 age group, compared with only nine in 1992.
• 76 suicides in the 20 to 29 age group, compared with a low of 57 in 1993.
• 66 suicides among those aged 30 to 39, nearly 20 fewer than the 85 recorded in 1997.

Overall, the trend indicates that not only are more young and elderly people thinking of or attempting suicide, but more are also ending up killing themselves.
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